Nuisance neighbour creates second major flea infestation in 2 years

Holmey101

I moved into my 2nd floor flat with a communal entrance, (it’s a 3 story building with a flat on each floor), 2 years ago just before the start of the second lockdown and right from the beginning there were problems with the guy living in the downstairs flat who was letting his drinking buddies use his flat as the local pub taproom while the pubs were caused down, with people turning up in taxis with cases of beer under their arms from 10am in the morning and it being clear from the noise from below the drinking was going on until 2 or 2 in the morning, with it not being 2 or 3 “guests” he had drinking in his place, but often 8 or 10, it being a particular nightmare when they were watching the horse racing on the TV and them all drunkenly cheering their horses on.

I complained to my landlady about it and put up with it until the 3rd day of his 3 day 70th birthday party when I went down, knocked on his door and asked him to keep the noise down, but all I got was abuse when he answered the door hardly able to stand up, him telling to me f*** off, it was his 70th birthday, his flat and he could do what he wanted and the party went on. I complained to my landlady next morning about it and after she had called him about it I had a knock on my door and when I answered it had 2 of his drinking cronies who were clearly plastered try to force their way in saying they were going to batter me for complaining to the landlady about the downstairs parties. Fortunately, I managed to close it before they got in, but they continued to try and batter the door down damaging the lock and splitting the door.

The upstairs neighbour who had heard the commotion phoned the police and shouted down the stairs that he had done and this caused the 2 at the top of the steps to leave and most of the people still in the downstairs flat, but there were still 6 people in the flat when the police arrived.

They made the people in the flat downstairs go out into the garden, examined the damage to my door asked me what had happened, and when I told them they asked me what I wanted to do saying they could either charge him with holding an illegal gathering and breach of the peace or give him a caution for both, them saying they could do nothing about the threats of violence and criminal damage to my door as the people who had done it had done a runner and downstairs wouldn’t tell they who they were claiming they has seen and heard nothing. At this, as I was still shaken up and didn’t want any more trouble, so agreed to them giving him a caution. I contacted my landlady again to tell her what had happened and ask her to get somebody to repair the door and when she arrived with her handyman to fix my door the downstairs neighbour still well drunk had a go at and was abusive towards her when she asked him what he was playing at, with this leading my landlady to telling him that she’d had enough of his behaviour and that as soon as the COVID ban on evictions ended he was out, she was going to evict him. This was 18 months ago.

Since then he’s quietened down a little, but still continued with his regular buddies drinking sessions, (all 3 of our bins would be full of empty bottles and cans within 3 days of being emptied), although it did quieten down more when the pubs reopened, but once that happened the mangy long haired Alsatian dog he had would start barking and howling at anybody who walked past when he left it in on its own and on 3 occasions had a very large and clearly alcoholic woman he has staying with him drunkenly banging on my door in the middle of the night as he’d thrown her out, the first time her pushing her way in and refusing to leave until morning when I said I’d run her to her sisters so she had somewhere to go, with all my landlady saying when I spoke to her about it was that there was nothing she could do until the ban on evictions ended, then she would have him evicted.

Then came the first flea infection caused by his dog last year, something that resulted in me spending the next 3 months being bitten to death by fleas, (I considered it actual bodily harm, my legs were bitten to hell for 3 months), with all the landlady doing about this being dropping off some flea spray and powder off that the council environmental health had recommended when I phoned them about it, me being the one that was left to powder and vac the communal hallway and stairs to try and get rid of the fleas, him and the landlady doing nothing, then I get 2 of his idiot drunken friends banging on my door again threatening me and the neighbour upstairs for daring to complain about his dog, with the flea infestation only clearing up after 3 months when the weather cooled and my daughter who has a commercial cleaning company steam cleaned the hallway and stairs carpets and all the carpets in my flat.

Fast forward another year, the regular drunken parties are still going on, especially late night at weekends, his dog is barking and howling all the time when he’s out and I’ve had another pair of drunken idiots on my doorstep threatening me because I’ve dared to complain about his dogs barking again and the fleas are back, for the last 3 weeks me being bitten to death my them and hardly able to sleep because of the itching, and what’s my landlady done, nothing apart from drop off 3 flea bombs that you set alight to sort it, something environmental health told me was next to useless with an infestation like this.

It’s got to the point where I’m at the end of my tether, and my landlady’s told me that as she’s been advised it will cost her thousands in solicitor’s fees if she tried to evict him for his anti-social behaviour and he gets legal aid to fight the case  she’s not doing that, instead saying that she’s given him a good, (despite his history), reference so that he can leave on his own accord as she says he now wants to leave, with the problem here being that there’s no way he will get a private rental with a big long haired flea ridden dog and while he’s got a place, there is no way he will get social housing as he has somewhere to live, so because my landlady refuses to spend the money getting him evicted, I’m not only stuck with him, but his drunken idiot friends who party at his flat and think it’s OK to bang on my door and threaten me when they are full of Dutch courage and I ask them to keep the noise down, plus live with his dogs fleas.

What can I do, I’m at the end of my tether here, surely my landlady has a duty to protect me from a neighbour like this as his dog’s fleas, with to me her refusal to evict him from his flat only because it will end up costing her a lot of money is her breaching my quiet enjoyment of the property by refusing to do something about it, with again me being the only one putting powder and vacuuming the communal areas to get rid of fleas, having to put up with the noise not only of his parties, his dog barking now, but also his dogs constant scratching while expecting another bang on the door from his drunken threatening friends again soon as my daughter has complained to the RSPCA about him not looking after his dog.

Help, what can I do, surely the fact that the whole building is infested with fleas and they are eating me alive renders my flat uninhabitable, all advice appreciated.

Holmey

 

 

SlinkyWeevil

Have you contacted the council yourself to say there’s a flea infestation in the building?  They can force the landlord to get an actual pest controller out and they will probably have to basically fumigate the entire building.  My parents in law ended up with fleas in their house and weren’t able to get on top of it in time, father in law developed a serious skin condition from the bites and they had to pay a pest controller to treat the entire house.  After that was done, they had no further issues, but in your case, it will be difficult to ensure that the neighbours dog is managed appropriately to stop it bringing the fleas back again. 

Also, the howling is probably separation anxiety, he may not be aware, but honestly it sounds like he probably needs a lot of help with his drinking, so he may not be able to be receptive to any suggestions right now. 

canaldumidi

I assumethe downstairs neighbour is a tenant? And you and he have the same landlady? Your options are

1) police if/when there is criminal behavior. Any evidence you have (eg recordings of threats/criminaldamage etc) should be given to them

2) RSPCA if dog is ill-treated. Fleas and being left alone might constitute mis-treatment - call themand ask

3) Environmenal Health - re fleas and/or noise (council will have a noise officer)

4) landlady - eviction using S8 G12 &/or 13? &/or 14

See Schedule 2 (17 S8 Grounds a LL can use)

The landlady will need evidence to support a repossession claim which you can gather and provide. It will not, however, "cost her thousands in solicitor’s fees", though you will have to pursuade her of this.

tryingmybest99

That sounds so distressing, I am sorry you are going through this. The others in this thread have given great advice, but I just wanted to add that Indorex Flea Spray is brilliant and should protect your flat for up to a year if the instructions are followed. It's pretty cheap too and available from places like Amazon. Be very careful and read the instructions if you have your own pets as it's very dangerous, particularly for cats!

I hope this gets sorted for you and that poor dog as well! 

lesalanos

The noise should go through the council

Threats should go to the police, get a video doorbell for evidence

Fleas - get your daughter to steam clean again 

theoretica

Personally, I would have been looking for somewhere to move to as soon as my initial contract was up.  Sure, you shouldn't have to, but is the property worth putting up with all this?

deannagone

The steam cleaning will work, but needs to happen on a regular basis, best to get even a cheap steam mop yourself and do it fortnightly.  It will reduce but the flea life cycle can be varied and its killing the eggs that is tricky.  You may well not have a new infestation but a return of the previous one now its hotter.  As well as looking on  Amazon for sprays that work. You will need to steam clean any soft furnishings obviously.

Use insect cream on your legs or I use Eurax (it also stops insect bite itching, large sized lol).  The itching is quite miserable.

Get the door alarm bell, as suggested, they are very good.  

You could suggest to the council that the neighbours flat is smelling very badly, that there is an insect problem there as well.  There is almost certainly a hygiene problem there.

Or move.

Norman_Castle

Contact the police about the neighbours friends repeatedly banging on your door and threatening you. Keep a diary and get a peephole camera to gather evidence. If you know its them don't open the door unless you want a pointless shouting match with irrelevant drunks. They don't live there, its none of their business.

Ksw3

Your landlords argument is a bit confusing, if he wants to leave and has a good reference he shouldn't mind receiving a S21 notice and therefore wouldn't stay put until evicted..